Walmart ends years of QR-code resistance, installing NFC tap-to-pay at all U.S. stores by year end. The rollout supports Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay while keeping its own Walmart Pay app.
Walmart said Friday it will install tap-to-pay technology at checkout stations across all its U.S. stores and Sam’s Club locations by the end of the year. The rollout, which began at select stores Monday, will reach all fuel centers by the end of next year.
The company will support Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and other contactless methods through near-field communication, or NFC, a Walmart spokesperson told Supermarket News. Walmart declined to disclose the cost or specific hardware involved.
The move ends the retailer’s long resistance to NFC-based payment. Walmart had pushed its own QR-code systems: CurrentC, launched in 2014 and shut down in 2016, then Walmart Pay, introduced that same year. Walmart Pay, which lets customers pay through the Walmart app, view receipts and access fuel discounts, will remain available after the NFC rollout.
Walmart was one of the last major U.S. retailers to accept tap-to-pay. The technology has been widely available for more than a decade. Google Wallet, the precursor to Google Pay, launched in 2011. Apple Pay followed in 2014. “It’s wild that it’s taken so long for Walmart to start embracing tap-to-pay,” Engadget wrote.
Sam’s Club members have adopted that banner’s Scan & Go technology, which lets shoppers scan and pay through the Walmart app without using a checkout lane. Scan & Go will continue to be available in-store, the company said.
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